Non-Print Legal Deposit regulations laid before parliament

The regulations seek to ensure that the Legal Deposit Libraries (LDLs) can provide a national archive of the UK’s non-print published material, such as websites, blogs, e-journals and e-books in a way that does not prejudice publishers’ commercial interests and that respects copyright ownership.

In doing so, they address the important challenge of preserving the nation’s digital heritage for future generations. Researchers of the future will be able to study and analyse a comprehensive source of material within LDLs which accurately reflects UK society today.

Libraries and publishers have worked collaboratively, through the Joint Committee on Legal Deposit [1], to establish the principle and content of the regulations. They will be implemented in April this year, at which point the archiving of our digital heritage by LDLs can begin in earnest.